Responding to a Need...

If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered." Proverbs 21:13

Recently at church, our pastor had been preaching about what it means to be a neighbour.

Today I was given the opportunity to practice being a good neighbour and looking out for those in need & this is how it went:

As I was heading home from my Chiro. appt., I got off at Vic Park and started walking home with the intention of grabbing a coffee at Timmy's. As I was walking to the lights to cross the street, I noticed a homeless man standing in the middle median holding a placard with the word, "HUNGRY" and asking for money. At this point, I decreased the size of my paces and thought that I should go and ask the man if he wanted something warm to drink or something to eat. Since there were so many cars passing by, I said to myself, forget it. Then as I crossed the street, I thought to myself that there's a person in need, I ought to tend to him. Again, I saw so many cars that I felt that it would take more time just to cross and ask the man so I hesitated yet again. In my stream of consciousness, I was wrestling with the idea of whether or not I should ask him. Being apprehensive caused me to walk back and forth a couple of times. Then, I thought to myself, it's awfully cold outside and I should go and ask if he's hungry because after all, that's what the sign says! So, I finally crossed to the middle median and walked towards him. I told the man that I was going to Tim Hortons and asked if he wanted a coffee or something to eat...a donut? He hesitantly said, "no thanks"...but then as I turned he said, "o-okay then." "A medium coffee with cream and three sugars." I told him no problem and that I'd be right back. Off I zipped and I was back in a hurry with exactly what he had ordered: A medium coffee with three sugars! When I handed him the coffee, I said, "keep warm and God bless." He said the same thing along with many thank yous, which extended even as I crossed the street. He was very grateful. As I was walking home, I said a quick prayer for him.

My reflection upon the whole thing today was this: Today I was given the opportunity to be a good neighbour and I took it! There were a few moments there where I was tempted to be like many others...many people would just look beyond the homeless/poor people asking for money (I've done that myself before) but I realized in those few moments of hesitation, I remembered that I'm not like everyone else! I am who I am and I'm different ~ I belong to God! Today, I responded in love and I was able to joyfully serve a person in need and I'm really grateful for that moment.